


For The Want Of A Knot

by BooksBabiesAndCats



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Katsuki Yuuri, Alpha Victor Nikiforov, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Multi, Omega Phichit Chulanont, Omega Yuri Plisetsky, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:20:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksBabiesAndCats/pseuds/BooksBabiesAndCats
Summary: When life gives you lemons, you board a train across Russia to get away before you turn to lemonade. Or something like that. Seventeen year old Yuri Plisetsky is given hell by life, and if he can just make it to Sakaiminato ferry before his heat sets in again or the police find him, he's going to give life hell back.In the meantime, however, Viktor and Yuuri are left worrying and preparing for the desperate request he makes of them.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov & Yuri Plisetsky, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 16
Kudos: 44





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> The early chapters of this may be subject to sudden editing as I rewatch more of the show and get my palate cleanser in for their voices and mannerisms. I've been bingeing fanfic and so I have lost the plot on what is fandom!Yuuri anxiety and what is canon!Yuuri anxiety, especially. I'll note in ANs if I make changes.
> 
> The description overall is pretty sparse, and I think that's the style this feels likely to keep - I am experiencing an emotional whirlwind myself, and I certainly don't have time to notice the scenery except in sudden disjointed moments, and my focus is more on before-after type experience observation. So this reflects where I am at.
> 
> Updates are likely to be slightly patchy, as right now I'm on a writing streak, but my life might get busy again suddenly. I have the first few chapters roughly written, though.
> 
> The title is a reference to the poem that goes "For the want of a nail".

DAY ONE OF NINE

The phone rang. This was not an unusual occurrence in this, the home of two top-ranked figure skaters. Nor was the darkness of the room when it did so, given the international nature of their friendships and the ineffable challenge that was managing who was in what time zone when.

Even the ringtone was not the most unusual sound, angry Russian punk metal swearing at the still, muggy air. Viktor had grown closer to Yuri Plisetsky, the past year, and he was grudgingly calling instead of texting, more frequently.

It was, however, unusual for him to call in the middle of the night.

"Privet, Yurio-"

"Vitya!"

The lack of customary pushback to the nickname and the use of his name, a form referring to their acquaintance, no less, that had the Russian alpha sitting up and shaking Yuuri's shoulder, who rubbed bleary eyes and blinked- adorably, Viktor noted, before switching to English and speakerphone, knowing Yuuri would take a while to be ready to speak, but could at least listen. 

"Yura, what's happening?"

"I'm- _fuck_. I'm on a train from St Petersburg, I'm going straight to Vladivostok."

"Why are you taking a week holiday on the Trans-Siberian? We're so close to the season."

"I know, I just- I presented."

Viktor blinked. "Betas don't present-"

"Idiot, I _know_ that."

"You're alpha? Sorry, I shouldn't sound surprised, you're just so short-"

"As omega."

"Oh. And you're on the train to what, take your mind off it? Did something happen during heat?" Worry crept into Viktor's tone. He should have known Yuri wouldn't slack off for no reason-

"I- hold on, let me check I'm alone. Okay. I'm still in heat. Technically. Ya- someone gave me a bag of mixed sups. Instant, long lasting, and slow release. I had to take them all at once, but they will last eight days, nine if life stops fucking me for once. He couldn't give me any that would end it to take with me, so this just... delays it."

Yuuri finally spoke, voice thick with sleep still. "Why did you need to suppress it? Why are you travelling in heat?"

"Dedushka is a beta."

Viktor growled, then filled in for Yuuri, "Under Russian law, an omega under 18 needs an alpha guardian, or they revert to the state, who mates them off to alphas who put their name down on a list to 'take care of' the 'poor orphan omegas'. Hiding an underage omega's status is classed as child endangerment."

"I'm going to arrive a day before I can get the ferry to- Sakha- Sake- Saika- fuck- _Sa-kai-mi-na-to_. Can you- both of you- meet me there, please? I'm going to be getting off the ferry as my heat returns."

Yuuri interjected, "Why are you coming to us? We'll be there. But what do you want us to do then? Your sports visa won't last until you're eighteen. And if you go into hiding, that's the end of your career. Not to mention, I don't know where to get suppressants without a prescription, so you'd be in for a hell of a first heat while we look."

"I need a mate. I-" Neither Viktor nor Yuuri had heard him so desperate, so vulnerable before. He sounded even more unmasked than that day at the waterfall. "I'm asking you because we couldn't think of anyone else, I don't want to interfere in your marriage, I'll pay you back for the knotting toy, but I need a bite, and scenting..."

"Oh. Um. And- I see. Vitya, are you alright with that?" Yuuri was hardly going to refuse out of jealousy, not when it was literally the rest of Yuri's life on the line. Once bonded, an omega had only two options - a new bond, or heavy doses of chemicals to suppress the hormonal drive for their mate. Heavier doses than the light blockers the ISU permitted for competition. 

Viktor pressed his fingers to his lips, eyes welling with tears. "I'm so sorry, Yurochka, but even if I live in Japan, I'm still Russian, they'd arrest me the moment I went to renew my visa, it wouldn't work."

"I don't mean you, old man. I mean Katsudon."

"ME!?"

Apparently, Viktor was as immune to Yuuri's spluttering as ever, steepling his fingers and nodding thoughtfully at the phone, although Yuri couldn't see him. "It could work. The restrictions do not apply to foreign alphas if the bonding occurs outside of Russia."

"But- me!? I'm barely- you can barely tolerate me!"

"You're an alpha that will let me continue to compete, and if you tell anyone I said this I'll deny it, but I really respect you and if I have to be stuck bonded with someone until I meet someone I love, I could do far worse than you." Belatedly, roughly covering up the tears clouding his voice, Yuri snapped, "Trust you to be such a moron you didn't know that."

Yuuri was not fooled. Neither he nor Viktor tried to hide their own tears as they looked at each other and came to the same conclusion. "I'll do it. Stay in touch this week?"

The grunt of acknowledgement was all they got before the beep indicating that Yuri had cut the call.

Yuuri began to hyperventilate.

Once he'd calmed down, and discussed the basics (yes, Viktor supported this, yes, they would figure it out, yes, obviously they were going to arrange a light hormone prescription once the bond was registered, yes, they'd be sorting the spare room out for him, no, they shouldn't wait to see how it works out before calling Yuuri's lawyers), Yuuri called Phichit. Outside, he could hear Viktor muttering that Chris needed to pick up his phone.

Phichit's cheerful greeting was a reassuring spark of normalcy after the weird _something off_ about the call with Yuri.

"Phich... You're the only omega I've ever been with."

"Well, that's one way to get my attention. You don't sound like this is tipsy reminiscing, what's happening?"

"I- I'm going to be bonding an omega in basically one week. And I don't know what to do to make the flat more omega friendly, he's not likely to have much stuff with him, and I know hormones can get intense in heat without suppressants-"

The horrified gasp on the other side made him wonder what he'd left out. "Are you and Viktor splitting? Yuuri, why didn't you tell me that things were going sour!? What happened!?"

Ah. "No, no, we're fine. We decided this together."

"Adding a third... You kinky-"

"No, no," Yuuri could feel his chest starting to close up. Apparently Phichit recognised it in his voice, because to his relief, his friend fell silent, waiting. "He's seventeen, we'll be getting him a knotting toy. He doesn't have any other options if he wants to keep skating, he doesn't have an alpha guardian, which he apparently needs in Russia. Vitya can't do it because he's also Russian."

The silence stretched like the miles between them, and Yuuri was about to ask him to say something, anything, when Phichit let out a low gasp of strangled horror. "Plisetsky?"

"Yes, how did you-"

"I just checked the hashtag for figure skating. There's a missing person's report out for him on the Moscow news. Twitter is buzzing, and Yuri's Angels are panicking."

"I'll call you back."

His fingers were already shaking by the time he finished dialling Yuri. "Yuri, this is important. I need you to turn off your location, and if you have anything irreplaceable on your phone, back it up to the cloud."

"Okay, okay, it automatically backs up every morning. It should be quick. I already had location off, I'm not an idiot. What do you want?" His voice was sleepy, but uncharacteristically low on aggression, clearly disconcerted by the sudden commanding tone in Yuuri's voice.

"Write mine and Vitya's numbers on paper. And I'm going to send you Phichit's in case you can't get hold of us for some reason. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting a pen. Hold on."

"When you have the numbers down and the backup done, you need to wipe your phone, make sure it has a passcode and not biometric access. Put it in a packet. And throw the phone into the next river you cross so if they've been tracking it somehow, that's where their signal goes."

That got Yuri's attention. "What!?"

"Actually, first tweet your Angels. Tell them you left of your own accord, and if they see you, you want them to keep quiet, they'll help you, this is important. Otherwise they'll hunt you down in a way the police acting on the missing minor report can only dream of."

"Missing- FUCK! Are they investigating Yakov?"

"Not that I heard. Just... Act fast. We'll get you a new phone when you get here." Yuuri started to hyperventilate at the idea of "here" being "with Yuuri to be bonded", but forced it aside to gasp out, "And Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

"Just hang in there. We will be waiting for you in Sakaiminato."

So quietly Yuuri almost thought he'd imagined it, came an abrupt, "Spasibo." before the dull beep of disconnection.

Viktor came inside. "Someone reported him missing!"

"I know." Yuuri's world narrowed around the edges and he went to sit down. This really was happening.

When calmer again, although Yuuri wondered with a slightly hysterical giggle whether he was now doomed to live life from anxiety peak to anxiety peak, he called Phichit back.

"I saw his tweet," was Phichit's answer, without preamble. "I can see Viktor's influence in the 'If you truly love me, help me, hide me, don't snitch.' So dramatic. This is like a movie!" 

Yuuri couldn't help it, he snorted. "Please. Yurio is that dramatic without Viktor's help. I sent him your number, to write down for if he can't reach us. He's dumping his phone as soon as he can."

"I'll stay alert for Russian swearing from unknown numbers, then! I've been thinking of what you might need for him, and I found a really nice nesting kit online. It's leopard print. Also I'm scrolling through the Yuri's Angels fansites for his favourite brands of toiletries. See, it pays to have obsessive fans!"

"Phich, you are amazing. Thank you."

With a sigh, he put Phichit on speaker and started scrolling his social feed, following the responses to Yuri's tweet. He was surprised, and not for the first time intimidated, by the outpouring of impassioned declarations of support from the fans. And slightly disturbed by how many vivid scenarios and conspiracies were already being cooked up in the first half hour.

He understood why Yuri had taken the train, it made sense, so much less easily tracked than on a plane, but it was agonising, knowing how much could go wrong in that time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be clear, whilst the horny plot bunnies in my brain may have wanted to take this in the "allllll the smut" direction, the ones that are currently starting a rewatch of YOI are firmly insistent that Yuuri and Viktor would not take advantage of the smol angry bean. So you can rest assured that whilst there may be some awkwardness with Yuuri needing to be present for Yuri's heat, he's not going to actively pursue a sexual relationship with him. When Yuri eventually reaches them, that is.
> 
> Concrit, especially canon nitpicking, and tags I should add, is absolutely welcome.


	2. Day Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurrah for my first time posting a second chapter since I returned to fanfic writing. Text between [square brackets] is text on a screen.

DAY TWO OF NINE

It was nerve wracking, tracking the news. Over a day had passed since Yuri's call had woken them, and they were no closer to learning who had reported him missing.

He and Viktor had kept their daily routine, right down to taking to the ice as usual, which was duly reported by the Nishigori triplets, although each had retweeted Yuri with a "Stay safe, Yurio!"

Before they left the rink, they called Yuuko aside, away from her triplets, to ask her to purchase the list of things Phichit sent Yuuri, not sure if their accounts would be being tracked. 

"This is- a nesting kit? In leopard print? Is it for-"

Yuuri groaned. "Please, Yu-chan, don't ask. Don't mention it to anyone. I'll tell you in a week when I pay you back, I promise. But this is important."

Nodding, she smiled at him, although the worried crinkle between her eyes didn't fade. "I'll make the order tonight. And pick everything else up at the shops when I go later this week?"

Yuuri just hugged her, hoping the gesture of affection would carry everything he couldn't say.

[Spotted @yuri-plisetsky! Still in St Petersburg! #FindYuriP #YurisAngels #YuriPlisetsky #Figureskating]

Yuuri felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the tweet. But... St Petersburg? He zoomed in on the picture of someone short and slender, somehow in both immense amounts of black and far too much animal print, blonde hair and earphone wires poking out from under a beanie. Yuri had sounded like he was on a train. They'd believed him without a question. Was this some sort of sick prank?

He jumped as Victor's hand landed on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Zoom in on the shoes, look." Yuuri did. And was still confused. "They're Nike," Viktor continued, as though that explained everything.

"Yes, I see the swoosh. How does that mean I shouldn't worry?"

"Yura wears Adidas or All-Stars. Never Nike."

Yuuri may have a mind that jumped to the worst conclusions at a rate of knots, but that did at least keep it in shape to follow Viktor nowadays. "That's not Yuri."

"Yes!" He looked oddly pleased. More than just the relief Yuuri was feeling.

Aha. "That's not a mistaken identity, is it. He quite literally has Angels watching out for him."

Viktor grinned.

For the first time since the phone call, Yuuri didn't feel like the young blond was quite so hopelessly alone.

By the time they were ensconced in the overstuffed armchairs at the law firm, no less than six Yuri Plisetskys had been spotted around St Petersburg, and, later in the day, two in Moscow. The police seemed to be buying it, still.

The terse, vague call Viktor had gotten from Yakov indicated that thus far, nobody was checking land travel east, only airports, and land travel west or directly out of the city. It had been a risky gambit, sending Yuri on the longer route, but he definitely would have been caught had he tried to make it into EU territories. At least, that was how Viktor explained it. Yuuri hadn't been able to follow the rapid Russian, and wouldn't have thought enough words had passed between the two to convey all that information, had he not been familiar with Yakov's abrupt style.

Yuuri's lawyer listened to his "hypothetical" explanation. Sighed, took off her glasses, massaged the bridge of her nose. Suggested he call his PR agent in, but not Viktor's. That Viktor should have been kept in the dark, were such a situation not hypothetical until he left the room. And arranged to get all the requisite forms filled in as far as possible. 

Viktor announced that she should give herself a raise, after he was called back in to discuss the curious "hypothesis".

"Does it bother you?" Yuuri asked, hands wringing the edge of the blanket as Viktor wrung the towel around his steadily growing hair.

Viktor released the towel, began combing fingers through, head tilted to the side, catching Yuuri's downcast eyes with that piercing blue gaze that seldom failed to make Yuuri's heart pound in a positive way as he felt _seen_. "Does what bother me, zolotse?"

"That you have to call Chris to vent, that I can't listen if we're both having the same stress. You always listen to me, but I-" he suddenly found himself crying again.

And wrapped in his husband's embrace, silver hair tickling his ear and dampening the side of his face where the tears hadn't reached. "It doesn't bother me. You give what you can, and I do not expect more. Even if you did listen to our shared stress, I probably would still call Chris, the same as you do Phichit. Outside perspective is helpful, like how you looked for Minako-sensei's advice in movement for becoming the tastiest pork cutlet bowl you could so I would devour you."

That had its desired effect, as Yuuri hid his face in his hands, face aflame, entirely distracted from his fears, if only for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I tag minor characters as well? Also, feel free to pitch me prompts, even for other YOI ideas, I'm trying to get back into writing properly.


	3. Day Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wa-hey, I'm back! As always, please do comment any tag suggestions, crit, or feedback in general, it really encourages me, and given how the other chapters keep writing out of order as inspiration hits, it helps get things going.
> 
> Also, I'm taking prompts, for any fandom I'm in (so just ask).

DAY THREE OF NINE

The sound of Google Alerts sounding at high speed jolted Yuuri to dash to the bedroom, toothbrush still in his mouth.

Viktor was looking thoughtful. "Yura's cellphone was found in Yekaterinburg. In a dumpster, wrapped in his scarf. I think he did one better than a river. I think he got someone to carry it with them when they disembarked. Which now makes it unclear to the police if he is still around Moscow and sent the phone with someone else from the start, or if he was on the train and got off and hitched a ride."

"He's smart enough to have hidden his usual appearance before getting on the train?" Yuuri asked, hopefully, heart in his throat.

Viktor nodded. "For once, the size of Russia feels like a blessing instead of a chore. If their resources are spread too thin, with this being a missing persons case and not a criminal one, there's much less chance they will think he's brazen enough to stay on the train all the way. They may still try search it at an upcoming stop, probably Ishim, now they have found his phone was probably on it, but if they find nothing they won't search it again. Yuri will anticipate that, I'm sure."

With a tense whine, Yuuri went back to rinse his mouth. He wished he shared Viktor's confidence in the young omega.

Yuuri rehearsed in his head what he was going to tell his PR agent. Watanabe Hina had been his agent only since Viktor insisted he needed one if he was going to manage competing against his own coach, but thus far they'd gotten along fine, although he could see the beta fangirling almost excessively hard over his husband when they met and Viktor waxed lyrical about the wedding plans.

She had helped with making that declaration stick, though. And for that, he trusted her. Some pairings still didn't count as legal marriages in Russia, or Japan, although Fukuoka at least issued partnership certificates. They'd gotten married in Canada, inadvertently at the same venue JJ and Isabella had used, which the Canadian skater _still_ wouldn't stop crowing about being proof that his taste was universal. And Watanabe-san had been there throughout the drama, steadfastly contacting every sponsor, every news outlet, to remind them to update their material to reflect "Katsuki-Nikiforov" as a valid surname.

Hopefully she'd be as brightly determined to surmount this new challenge.

"Katsuki-Nikiforov-sama!" she greeted. At the wry look that followed she smiled as she closed her office, reverting to the compromise she and Viktor had reached regarding formality. "Yuuri-sama. I'm dying of curiosity, what is so mysteriously urgent that you had to see me 'alone and at the first available opportunity'?" 

"You've seen Yuri Plisetsky is missing? Well, he's not missing, he's run away. He's going to be here in six days. To bond with me as my omega." He sipped the water she had handed him coming in, and waited for that to percolate.

"Does Viktor-sama know?"

The lie stuck in his throat, but he swallowed and shook his head. "No, he doesn't. If he did, he could be charged with child endangerment in Russia. I'm going to need to handle this quietly and privately."

"And then manage the optics as soon as the papers are filed." She nodded. Yuuri was incredibly grateful for her professional demeanour and lack of visible shock. "Are you having Kobayashi-sensei file for you?"

"Yes, I thought I should get legal help as fast as possible." Yuuri tried to portray the kind of confident alpha that would have all of this under control by himself, smiling at her with a twinge of guilt for the deception. A circle of six knowing that Viktor knew was already a large one, but he wished he could include her in that group.

Clearing her throat delicately, Watanabe-san folded her hands in her lap. "Do you anticipate backlash from Viktor-sama?"

"Oh! No, no, I know he'd support this. I think he'd be more upset if I refused to help our fellow skater and friend. To be honest, I think Vitya's most dramatic reaction will be to bemoan not having time to remodel the spare room." Yuuri smiled, thinking of Viktor's realisation just that morning that because he theoretically knew nothing about it, he couldn't go shopping for home improvement materials.

Yuuri's phone made a string of Google Alert sounds again, and he absently apologised while pulling it out to check. His heart pounded as he saw they were for Yuri. He waited for the translations to load, and scanned for headlines in English.

[Missing skater Plisetsky rumoured to be omega.]

[Heat hysteria or publicity stunt? Skater Plisetsky vanishes with cryptic tweet.]

The world darkened around Yuuri, and he numbly pushed the screen to where Watanabe-san could see it. He reached for his water again, sipping slowly.

"Katsuki," Yakov's voice was as curt as usual, but Yuuri thought he was not imagining the rough cracks in it, like he had not slept enough. "Lilia and I were having coffee alone in her flat, we were the last to see him. Neither of us caught any scent, so I don't know where these rumours are coming from. Do you understand me?"

Fortunately, Yuuri did. "It is tragic that such unfounded rumours have spread so rapidly, from anonymous sources who cannot be challenged. I will be careful not to add fuel to them."

The rest of the day was a blur, and although he landed most of his jumps, the one failed triple axel had him groaning as he got off the ice. Viktor and the Nishigoris all agreed it was time to stop, and he sighed, reluctant to leave the peace of the ice.

"At least let me do step sequences, Vitya… Not as my coach, as my husband?"

Viktor sighed and relented. "Alright. But no jumps. I'm sure the girls will send me evidence if you do as much as a single toe loop!"

Lutz - at least, Yuuri thought it was Lutz, it was hard to see without his spectacles - nodded enthusiastically and waved a cellphone at him. He sighed and waved at her.

At home, Yuuri sank gratefully into the warm water and examined the bruise on his thigh with practised eye. Viktor examined it too, but his eyes were gleaming wickedly, and Yuuri smiled as he was joined in the bath scant seconds later.

Nimble fingers, longer than his, slid rapidly from flank to inner thigh, tracing his scent gland and the bonding scar around it. Whilst his cock filled almost reflexively at the touch, knot swelling to half-mark as knuckles brushed it, it served as a sobering reminder.

"Vitya, we're going to need you to go somewhere else for a few days. You would notice me planning something, so for people to believe you didn't know anything..."

With a dramatic sigh, Viktor nuzzled him, running a wrist over his neck, his wrists, inner thighs. Yuuri, in response, shifted to make himself available for the scenting. "You're going to need to do that all over again when we are out the water, Vitya."

"I will gladly, again," a kiss to the underside of his jaw, "And again," a kiss to his throat, "And again, until the whole world knows you are mine and I am yours, zolotse."

[Fans flock to Ishim to show their support for skater Plisetsky]

[Angels or demons - the misplaced fervour of fans]

[Plisetsky's luggage found aboard Trans-Siberian train, but where is the Russian Punk?] 

With a grin and punching the air, Viktor cheered. "Ishim was too small, too underprepared with too few police! They couldn't deal with the influx of people, now they don't know where he got off the train, and it is again uncertain of if he ever was on it, or if he placed his luggage there as a ruse." Then his smile faded. "We don't know where he is either."

Yuuri slumped his head into his hands. "I don't want to do this alone."

"I could stay?"

With a wounded noise, he wrapped his arms around his husband, burying his face in his neck. "I wish you could. But we can't risk it. Just believe in me, believe that I can manage this from my side."

"I do. I believe in you, Yuuri."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify some worldbuilding that hasn't fitted into text yet:
> 
> There are three locations for scent glands - sides of the neck, wrists, inner thighs. Bonding bites are different between the sexes - an alpha is bitten on their inner thigh, a beta on their wrist, and an omega on their neck. A reciprocal bite is not required to form a bond.
> 
> Pairings that are _not_ recognised by governments that do not recognise homosexual marriages irl:  
> Male alpha-male alpha  
> Male alpha-male beta  
> Male beta-male beta  
> Female beta-female beta  
> Female beta-female omega  
> Female omega-female omega


	4. Day Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been written piece by piece on days much like the day in the chapter - the awkward anxiety of nothing actionable happening. Although where I get maudlin and write fic, our boys talk to their friends.

DAY FOUR OF NINE

The ringtone of an unfamiliar number would usually be allowed to go to voicemail, but Yuuri lunged for his phone. "Ohayo?"

"Piggy."

"YU-" lowering his voice, Yuuri continued, " _Yura?_ "

"I'm borrowing a phone. Just wanted to tell you I'm back on the train. I can't talk for long, her mother thinks she's in the bathroom. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Vitya won't be at the ferry, with things heating up like this we needed plausible deniability so he is flying to Chris'. Back on the train?"

"I slid out a window. It's a long story. Someone's older brother drove me to the next station and I slipped onto that train when Ulya here opened another window for me to sneak on as the train started. I've got to go now."

A young teenage voice sounded in the background, "Have you said that your hair is brown now?" just before the call cut.

Luggage clattered to the floor as Viktor tried to respond to the hug pressed upon him the moment the door opened. "Chris! Thank you for letting me come on such short notice."

The Swiss skater laughed and planted a kiss on his cheek before helping haul the assortment of bags and vanity cases inside. "Anything for a friend! We've been friends for over a decade, cherie, you've always been welcome to turn up on my doorstep like a silver cat hiding from the rain."

After a moment to laugh at the imagery, Viktor sobered as he thought about it. "But we weren't really, were we? A few years ago something like this would have been under an excuse, not the truth."

"That's... true." Chris was as uncharacteristically serious as Viktor. "I'm sorry, Viktor."

Shaking his head vigorously, Viktor insisted, "Nyet! I was closed off, I was a bad friend-"

"No, I was," the sober tone remained. "I have been thinking, since you took the podium last year, with the announcement that it was your last season. I was so busy seeing you as my foil, my rival, my comrade in loving the ice, that your retirement seemed like something injury would force - I was fleeing my own age as well, I think. It's only really now, isn't it, that I'm actually seeing you, that we talk without relying on the ice as our common ground. Since you got the gold that matters to you, eh?" Chris tapped Viktor's wedding ring, and the Russian laughed.

"I'd like to say you'll take gold now I've retired, but my Yuuri…" he teased, taking them back onto familiar ground.

Allowing a brief laugh, the signal of yes, we are still us, Chris shook his head, caught up in his train of thought still. "Talking to you this past year, these last few days... We could have been - _should_ have been - like this for so much longer; how many times did you need someone to call and I wasn't able to be there for you, Viktor?"

"Vitya."

"What?"

Viktor started smoothing the coat he was hanging. "Vitya. I've let you call me Viktor for so long, but that's like me calling you Christophe. And we are closer than that, actually have been for a long time. It's Vitya, to you."

"Vik- Vitya," Chris' voice was thick with emotion as he tested the word. Blinking rapidly, he grinned again. "Well then, _Vitya_ , let's see what we can make for dinner. Like old times?"

The sight of each others' faces brought Viktor and Yuuri both smiles and tears.

"I don't think you should let me go on these trips alone," Viktor joked. "I'm already missing you, zolotse."

"Ah, me too. Well, missing you. But maybe you should take more of them without me," Yuuri teased in reply. "Can't have us so codependent now, can we?" 

The unspoken reality that this was not codependency but separation in crisis hung in the air for a moment, before Makkachin pounced on the phone with his missing master's face on and ran off to his bed with it, shaking it. "Makka!" they both scolded.

A few minutes later, the phone was wiped clean, and back in human hands. Yuuri laughed. "That dog knows a surprise trip when he sees one. You didn't run around packing and unpacking for days first, and he's worried."

The next call Yuuri received was a terse, grumpy one, Yakov ranting about the police bringing him and Lilia in for questioning, and, oddly, "If you know anything, if you have any involvement in this, you had better tell me, Katsuki, I want to know where my skater is!" 

When the brief confusion faded, Yuuri realised that Yakov must not have been alone, then, must have been appearing to cooperate with the police. He went from stunned silence to allowing his panic into his voice. "I don't know where he is! He's my friend too, and I am worried _sick_!" 

The rooms already felt empty without Viktor. Empty without his laugh, empty without his smile, empty without his coat and scarf and other accoutrements laying scattered everywhere. Empty without his warmth. All that emptiness begged to be filled.

Yuuri's anxieties volunteered themselves for the job. 

Digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, Yuuri sighed. It looked like sleep would not put him out his misery soon enough. Putting his spectacles on, he hesitated for a moment before texting.

Yuuri [Are you around?]

Minutes passed with no reply, and he sighed and threw his phone to the foot of the bed. Almost immediately he had to dive down and grab it, as the vibration of an incoming text threatened to slip it off altogether.

Phichit [Yeah, I'm here, what's up?]

Yuuri [Can't sleep.]

Phichit [Missing Viktor's lullabies?]

Huffing air out his nose, Yuri paused, typing and deleting multiple replies.

Phichit [Or his knot?]

Yuuri [PHICH!]

Phichit [Ha, got you talking! Is it just the empty bed thing? Or is something else bothering you?]

Yuuri [The bed. But also everything.]

Phichit [Everything?] 

Yuuri [They're investigating Lilia and Yakov, and it sounds like they're looking at seeing if he had contact with me. The lack of news is both good and bad. And we don't know if Vitya's communication is being monitored, so I can't talk honestly to him about it.]

Phichit [They can't just monitor his communication, that's illegal, right?]

Yuuri [Honestly, I don't know. I want to say no, they can't. But also, they're a government. That has a poor track record for these things. And Vitya isn't the most careful with the location of his phone or his activity on it, so we can't rule out the potential that he's been being monitored as a potential political problem since he and I married.]

Phichit [Oh shit. Whose phone did you get the call on?]

Yuuri [Mine, fortunately.]

Phichit [Well, that helps. If they are.]

Yuuri [If I call, can you talk?]

Phichit [I have plenty of time for a call, yes.]

Yuuri [No, I mean, can you talk. I don't have much to say, but I don't want to be left alone with my mind.]

Phichit [Ohhhh. I get you. Yes, I can, I'm cooking at the moment, I'll tell you about it?]

Yuuri [Please.]

When Phichit hung up on Yuuri's snores, the call log read 2:12:34.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my commenters and kudos-givers so far, you're fuelling me to keep going. As always, all feedback is welcomed!


	5. Day Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting, I have a million excuses, but am trying to remember I'm writing for the love of it, and am allowed to take breaks. As always, comments are life and inspire me to keep writing, and I'm open to crit and suggestions.

DAY FIVE OF NINE

The day would one day come that Yuuri did not twitch at the sound of a Google Alert, but today was not that day. He scanned the headlines and cringed.

[Suspected theft added to Plisetsky's sheet - skater still on the run]

[Missing skater's instructor finds suppressants stolen] 

[Madam Baranovskaya reports stolen heat suppressants]

[Former prima ballerina robbed by pupil!] 

He wanted to call Viktor. But he couldn't. Not now, not when he might slip up and say something he shouldn't. Biting his lip, he made himself breathe, the familiar four-seven-eight count, started the kettle for tea.

The phone rang, with a familiar showtune belting out, and Yuuri pressed a hand to his mouth, suppressing a sigh of relief. "Phich."

"Heyyyyy, Yuuri. I'm assuming you saw the news headlines?" 

"I did. I had hoped we'd have more time, but I suppose she needed to clear her name now, or it would be too suspicious that she didn't check her medicine cabinet after being questioned about if he is an omega."

"This makes it a criminal case, not just a missing person. Do you know where he is?"

Yuuri put the phone on speaker. "No, but I think I'm going to have to get ready to leave here - this is ramping up to where I worry about us being broken into and bugged in flagrant violation of international espionage agreements. We will have to hire a private security force to come in and sweep the place when this is over. Sometimes... Sometimes I hate being high profile even more than I usually do."

To his surprise, Phichit grumbled in agreement. "We're an awkward kind of high profile. High profile enough to make headlines, not enough to make waves safely. Nononononono-" 

"What!?" 

"Nothing _big_ -" Phichit's voice was muffled. "Sorry. I just shut my babies in the cupboard." 

With a laugh, Yuuri added the leaves to the pot. "How are your little beasts?" 

"Brxns̒ has started using his wheel as a bed, so his weight gain comes as no surprise. Thxng has figured out how to open this cage as well, but it takes him a long time, so he spends a lot of the day in his ball. And Ngein... is still the normal one."

The next alert confused Yuuri, and he lost track of Phichit's anecdote about a hamster scattering bedding all over his pillow.

[Protesters in front of Russian Embassy: LIVE]

He opened the German news site, and watched a video of a motley gaggle of people with handmade signs, no uniformity of shirt or slogan, protesting... The Russian omega laws?

He read the caption and understood. They were reacting to the news about Yuri.

Another similarly titled alert took him to a Canadian site. These protesters were more uniform in that they wore cat ears, but their placards were as hasty and uncoordinated. Tears welled in his eyes at the sight of spontaneous humanity, support without prompt or organisation.

Some things are inherently frustrating to see receive a platform. Like people claiming that the earth is flat, or that vaccines are mind control, or that omegas don't belong in professional sports. Viktor growled at the screen, resisting the urge to throw the remote at it.

Beside him, Chris was biting his lips into a thin line, then burst out, "Have they forgotten the multiple Olympic gold medalists who have been omega?" 

"These people show up every so often. They take any excuse." He pulled out his phone, opened Instagram. "I'm going to post something."

He smoothed his hair, and took a picture of himself without his usual cheerful grin.

[I stand in support of #omegas in #figureskating. You don't need to be alpha to be a world-class athlete.]

For a moment, he considered turning off comments. Then he shook his head and hit post, setting aside his phone.

The shutter sound caused him to turn his head to where Chris was taking a picture of his middle finger aimed at the commentator panel discussing the subject. Tucking his chin over his shoulder he watched him add sparkle effects and then type his caption as well. 

[There is no point to this discussion - #omegas have been #figureskating for decades. This is all I have to say to the conversation.]

"Yuu-chan, can you keep Makkachin until this blows over? I'd ask my parents but... I'm kind of avoiding involving them in case they ask questions I'm not ready for."

Yuuko laughed, asking, "Aren't you more worried about _Mari_ asking questions you aren't ready for?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will, but she'll ask whether I take Makka there or not. Did you order those things I asked about?" He imagined Mari's reaction if he had a nesting kit delivered to the onsen, and shuddered.

Yuuko nodded with a conspiratorial wink. "I've stored them in the back under the skates waiting for next month's refurbishments."

He laced up his skates and stepped onto the ice. "I'll collect it before I leave for Sakaiminato. Thank you so much for this."

She waved off his thanks. "Lock up when you leave!"

The ice welcomed him with a familiar sleek glide, and he left his anxiety carved into the grooves of the compulsory figures he traced out over and over.


End file.
